PITTSBORO —The N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality announced late on Tuesday that it had identified additional sources of "elevated levels" of 1,4 Dioxane into the Haw River.
The NCDEQ release noted that samples received from the Reidsville Wastewater Treatment Plant on Oct. 11 show 1,400 parts per billion of the chemical which is higher than the amount found to have originated from Greensboro's Wastewater Treatment Plant in August which was announced last week. According to the release, DyStar and Unifi, companies that are on the Reidsville system, are the likely sources.
The previously discovered source of a discharge of significant amounts of 1,4 Dioxane into the Haw River, first observed by researchers from N.C. State and Duke University, was identified as Greensboro industry Shamrock Environmental last week.
The solvent 1,4 Dioxane, which has been identified by the EPA as a likely carcinogen, was initially discovered in the Haw River by Detlef Knappe, the S. James Ellen Distinguished Professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at N.C. State six years ago. 1,4 Dioxane is not regulated at either the federal or state levels and its removal from drinking water supplies is not required.
But its presence in the water, along with other chemicals such a PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalykl substances, has concerned the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners, who have been working for several years to identify the sources, reduce the flow of chemicals into the water and find treatment options for the town’s current water treatment plant.
In September, Knappe, along with Duke researcher Dr. Heather Stapleton, alerted the Pittsboro Board of Commissioners of a spike in 1,4 Dioxane in test samples from August at levels 400 times above what EPA guidelines. The researchers estimated that the chemical was in the water at or near that level for about seven days. At the same time, the researchers noted that the “chemical signature” they tracked in the water indicated that the majority of the PFAS contamination originated from the East Burlington Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Then, last week, it was revealed that a discharge from Shamrock Environmental occurred on Aug. 7, but the City of Greensboro — which manages the wastewater permit — was not informed. Greensboro discovered the discharge through testing recently mandated by the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality for 25 pre-treatment communities along the Cape Fear Watershed. NCDEQ was not notified until Sept. 27 when the town provided the test results to the state. At no time did any of these entities alert communities downstream of the discharge.
At a public forum held in Pittsboro last Wednesday on the presence of unregulated chemicals — which had been scheduled by the Haw River Assembly prior to the announcement of the discharge — the News + Record asked NCDEQ’s Director of the Division of Water Resources Linda Culpepper and Permitting Supervisor Julie Grzyb, who were on Wednesday’s panel, at what time, if any, were Shamrock, Greensboro or NCDEQ required to notify anyone, including those downstream, of the discharge.
In response, they noted that “they are investigating that right now” and that they would “have to speak to counsel” for answers to those questions.
“DEQ is investigating the release of 1,4 dioxane from City of Greensboro T.Z. Osborn Wastewater Treatment Plant and pursuing appropriate enforcement action, so it would be inaccurate to say the upstream wastewater treatment plants bear no responsibility,” Sharon Martin, NCDEQ’s Deputy Secretary for Public Affairs, later noted via email to the News + Record. “DEQ takes the issue of emerging compounds and water quality very seriously, and as you heard during the meeting, we are working with pretreatment programs and industrial dischargers with state permits to screen for 1,4 dioxane in surface water and biosolids as part of an ongoing management strategy on 1,4 dioxane and PFAS. We are also sampling weekly at the Greensboro wastewater treatment plant.”
Members of Wednesday’s panel, which also included Knappe, Stapleton, Dr. Jackie Bangma of UNC-Chapel Hill and Dr. Zack Moore of the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, were asked whether they would drink Pittsboro’s water. Knappe noted that if he lived in Pittsboro, he would want to have a home filter because the found the levels of chemicals in the drinking water “unacceptably high” especially for “populations that are more vulnerable” such as infants. One by one, each panelist noted that they each have water filtration systems on their own homes, though none lived in Pittsboro.
A Pittsboro resident asked the panelists whether the Town of Pittsboro had any responsibility to reimburse residents for the cost of reverse osmosis. Knappe said no, and remaekd that it should be a matter of source control. The panelists suggested a variety of water filtration systems for individual homes that were affordable, but stressed that regular maintenance to any system was key to prevent other contaminants, such as bacteria, from finding their way into residents’ drinking water.
The town contracted with CDM Smith on Oct. 14, prior to the announcement of the discharge, to conduct testing of four different water filtration systems at its treatment plant to determine what system will work best to remove the contaminants. Pittsboro Town Manager Bryan Gruesbeck noted the company is “mobilizing its resources and we anticipate work to start as soon as possible.” He also noted that the town is willing to work with other water treatment facilities “to identify a long term solution to upstream infiltration of unregulated chemicals.”
The costs for the system, depending on the option chosen, ranges from $11-23 million for start-up costs alone with annual maintenance and disposal costs still to be determined.
Reporter Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.